Emotional O’Sullivan shoots down Trump to claim a magnificent seventh world title
RONNIE O’SULLIVAN shed tears of joy last night as he completed a remarkable 21-year journey to complete the ‘Magnificent Seven’ at the Betfred World Championship.
The 46-year-old sobbed as he embraced opponent Judd Trump, after an 18-13 win to equal legend Stephen Hendry’s seven Crucible crowns.
It was a rare show of emotion for a player who won his first world title back in 2001. O’Sullivan had to hold his nerve after seeing his 12-5 overnight lead slashed to 14-11, as Trump – the 2019 world champion – staged an unlikely fightback.
“That’s probably the greatest result I’ve ever had,” said O’Sullivan. “It’s just a relief, it’s a really hard tournament.
“I was so emotional, because of the drain and effort, to finally get over the line. I just never thought it would happen.
“I didn’t really feel like the favourite to win. I doubted myself a little bit, so to finally get a result like I did is special. I’ve grown up with Judd, we’ve shared a lot of time on the practice tables so to hear the words he said to me afterwards, I didn’t realise what that meant to him. It was nice to hear I was part of his development and it was a special moment – he choked me up.
“As far as I’m concerned, Judd is already an all-time great.
“I’ve had a good record here over the last 10 years, so it’s going all right,” added O’Sullivan.
“Honestly, it (the record) has never been something on my mind.
“I didn’t come here to equal Stephen Hendry’s record, I came here to play snooker and to be honest I found it very, very tough.”
Trump added: “I tried my best to get back into it but I left it a little bit too late. I gave it my all and I knew it was going to be tough, but I didn’t get the start I needed.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if (Ronnie) goes out and beats the record now. The level he’s played, apart from Mark Williams he was different class to everyone in this tournament and it only ever looked like there was going to be one winner.”